


Dried Ink

by Infinimay



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), The Borrowers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Borrowers Fusion, Fear, G/T, Giant/Tiny, Human Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Infinitesimal Sides, M/M, Mild Language, Punk!virgil, Trans Character, Trans Male Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, tiny!logan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25164952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Infinimay/pseuds/Infinimay
Summary: Borrower!Logan lives in Punk!Virgil’s walls. He gets a bit too curious about the human’s tattoos.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 26
Kudos: 207





	1. A Startling Introduction

Logan let out a quiet sigh as he adjusted his glasses, his eyes adjusting to the light outside of the walls. He slipped out of the hole in the wall, and looked around slowly, listening intently.

He had recently moved into a new building, and with that, he had to take more precautions- learning his host's schedule and habits _,_ clearing out the walls of anything that could attract rodents, and establishing efficient routes into and out of the apartment.

It was difficult work, and in between his tasks, he tended to watch his new host from various perches he'd set up- and he'd noticed something _strange._

His human host was covered in _drawings_! Odd, brightly colored pictures that covered his arms, shoulders, legs, and even his chest!

And, of course, Logan was irrevocably curious. What were they? Could Logan give himself similar markings? Did they have a purpose? Was the skin there different in any other way? Was there a cultural significance to them? Did it aid the human in attracting a spouse?

And those questions lead him here, to the human’s desk.

He estimated that his host would still be gone for a few more hours, so he had plenty of time to test his first hypothesis...

Logan tossed his hook, secured it in place, and started to climb up the thread. He wished that he had some way to write down his findings, but he supposed that simply committing them to memory wouldn't be impossible. He heaved himself up onto the desk and made his way over to the cup of pens, immediately moving to tug one out to examine it.

He frowned, yanking it out of the cup and onto the wooden surface of the desk. Before he could figure out the mechanism to get the ink out, there was a sound at the front door.

Why was the human already back?!

He paled, swearing softly as he quickly ran to hide behind the cup. He wasn't a second too soon, either, as the human's voice drifted into the bedroom- shortly followed by the human, himself.

“-thanks for taking my shift, man, you didn’t have to… Yeah, yeah, alright, I’ll see ya tomorrow. Bye.” Virgil said, hanging up the phone as he walked into his bedroom. As he looked up, he noticed something hanging from his desk, and frowned.

“Wha-” he reached out, plucking the little hook and string from its position on the desk. “What the _hell_...?”

And then he noticed the pen, outside of the pen cup.

He blinked, a frown on his face as he picked up the pen. It seemed fine, upon closer examination, and he picked up the cup to put it back- only to drop it onto the desk with a loud _clatter_.

Staring up at him, seeming just as shocked as he was, was a tiny _person_.

“ _Woah!”_ Virgil jumped back, dropping the little hook and string to the floor. Most of the pens rolled off the desk and softly thudded onto the carpeted floor below, though he paid them little mind. “Holy shit- what the _fuck_?!”

Logan drew the pin from his side and held it tightly, even as his hands shook tremored. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he found himself staring into the eyes of the human, and he swallowed.

He needed to run, but his knees shook and locked him in place. The opportunity for flight had come and gone, but now, fight was his only option.

He would lose.

The human reached out his hand, and narrowly dodged Logan's sharp jab of the needle. “Hey, cool it with the pin! C'mere, I just wanna get a good look at you…”

The human’s fingers came around his side and deftly pinched the back of his shirt, yanking him off of the table. He let out a choked yelp as he was brought to eye-level with the human, who smiled as he examined Logan. The borrower's legs flailed uselessly, and he mourned the loss of solid ground.

“This is so cool…” Virgil breathed as he brought up a hand to poke at the man, pausing as the pin was jabbed in his direction again. “Heh, a pin as a sword, that’s cute.”

“I assure you,” Logan snapped, panic gripping him as he hung in the air, “it is _anything_ but. If you do not put me down within the next three seconds, I _will_ stab you in the thumb.”

Virgil raised a brow in amusement, but obliged, setting the small man onto the desk gently. He pulled out the desk chair and sat down, looming over the small man with an intimidating air.

“So,” he began, setting tattooed arms down on either side of the man’s trembling form, “what brings you to my desk?”

Logan took a few steps back, unsettled by the weight of the man’s eyes. His knuckles were white as he tightly gripped the pin, and he abruptly realized that his hands were shaking. He stayed silent, his words caught in his throat.

Virgil gave a noncommittal hum at his noncompliance, raising a hand to lightly nudge Logan’s side, sending him stumbling to the side with a sharp gasp. Suddenly the borrower was _very_ aware of the fact that the man was getting impatient.

He turned wide eyes to the human, shaking involuntarily. “I- I was just… I wondered what the pictures, the ones on your- your arms, are.”

“What, my tattoos?” The punk frowned, leaning back in surprise. “You didn’t know what they were?”

“Actually, I was, um, attempting to test a hypothesis,” Logan clarified slowly, avoiding the human’s gaze. He was feeling braver though, with the human no longer looming over him. “It- it is _ink,_ correct?”

Virgil’s eyes flickered between the scattered pens on the desk and the tiny man. “Oh, uh… yeah, but they’re not the same kind of ink. Like, pen ink isn’t safe to have under your skin like tattoo ink is.”

Logan recoiled with wide eyes. “ _Under_ _your_ _skin?!”_

He was fascinated by the idea, though thoroughly repulsed. How did the humans _get it_ under there? And was a similar procedure utilized for the pieces of metal that seemed to be pinned through the human’s ears and lips? And what was the purpose of such attachments?

The human laughed, vibrating the table and almost sending Logan sprawling. “Yeah, under my skin. I can show you how it works, if you want.”

“…what do you mean?” Logan asked, taken aback. Did the human want to demonstrate it on _him?_ He didn’t like the sound of needles under his, comparatively much thinner, skin.

“Uh, if I go grab something… Nah, you can just come with.” Virgil shrugged, reaching out to grab Logan again.

“No _, please!”_ Logan yelped, ducking away from the offending limb. He covered his head with his arms, trying to shield himself, only to be left alone. There was no crushing grip, no pinching at the back of his shirt, nothing. His eyes were watery at the feeling of phantom hands on his body, and he shivered.

He looked up hesitantly, only to find that the human looked taken aback. Virgil spoke quickly, “Shit, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you like that. Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. No more touching, sorry about that."

As he caught his breath, trying to calm his racing heartbeat, he wondered why the man had stopped. Humans weren’t supposed to _apologize_ \- hell, they weren’t supposed to even listen to someone Logan’s size, and yet this one _had._ He didn’t know what to think.

“It- it is redeemable, provided that you don’t do something like that again,” He stuttered, straightening up and giving the man a wary look. It was worth a shot… “Look, I hope you’ll pardon my rudeness, but I really should be going. Business to attend to and whatnot.”

“ _Business?”_ Virgil asked slowly, raising a brow. “Okay, now I’m curious- you’re like, what, four inches tall? What kind of business could you possibly have?”

“I... do not recall inviting you to ask, actually," Logan said warily, giving Virgil a stern look. "That was rather rude, actually."

“Hey, come on,” he held up his hands in surrender, eliciting a flinch again, “I’m just trying to be friendly, here. I can still you how they work, if you want. Consider it an apology.”

Now _that_ caught Logan’s attention. If he _wanted?_ Could he say no? 

He opened his mouth hesitantly, apprehension dawning on his features, “I think I’d like to leave, actually.”

The human didn’t seem surprised by Logan’s bluntness. He nodded, pushing the chair back from the desk slowly before leaning over to pick up the hook and string from the floor. “Yeah,” he grunted as he deposited the tool near the borrower, “can’t say I blame you there. Sorry for all that, I’m a bit of an asshole, sometimes- it won't happen again.”

Logan stared up at him with open surprise, blinking in shock. He cleared his throat uncertainly, “You- you’re actually letting me leave?”

“Yeah, it was shitty of me to keep you here like that, so... sorry. Shouldn't have scared you like that, that's my bad," Virgil said, shrugging. The borrower noted that the human wasn't making much eye contact- he really _was_ ashamed...

“Thank you…” Logan said, crouching to pick up his rope and hook. The human wasn’t perfect, but there was something to be said for him- somewhere between the apologies and seemingly begrudging kindness. “I'm Logan.”

The human’s eyes widened, flickering to the bespectacled little face. “Virgil,” he introduced himself after a beat, giving him a small nod.

“I don’t suppose,” Logan shifted nervously, hesitant to ask, “that could I see one of your tattoos closer? I still have some questions, if you are still amenable to showing me more.”

After a moment of deliberation, Virgil set his arm on the desktop, far enough from Logan to give the man some breathing room. “Like this?”

Logan nodded and approached the giant limb, cautiously optimistic. “Don’t move.”

And with that, he was standing in front of a massive, colorful gallery of ink and skin, mouth open in awe. He took a step forward, extending a hand to lightly trace the designs, finding the skin to be raised there by an almost undetectable margin. It _certainly_ wouldn’t be discernible to the human, at least.

“If you think that’s cool, you should see some of the guys I work with,” Virgil chuckled lowly, rattling Logan to the core and giving him significantly more questions.

“How exactly are they made? Did you make them? Do they fade over time? And what purpose do they serve?” Logan eagerly rattled off questions as he examined the skin, walking up and down the length of the human’s forearm. He wondered if Virgil would be able to make a timeline of events for each one, and if perhaps there was a correlation between that and the actual characteristics of the tattoo.

Virgil fully laughed at that, regarding the tiny man with a grin. “Slow down,” he advised, keeping his arm decidedly still, “we have time. You make a tattoo using a special kind of ink, but to get it under the skin, you can use a lot of different methods. I made most of these, but the ones on my shoulders were made by my coworkers or from another parlor. They fade, but you can slow it down if you take care of it. And… I dunno, some of them have meaning, some of them just look cool.”

Logan nodded at the information, wishing he had some paper and a pencil to record the information. “A shame that I’ll have to move,” he remarked quietly to himself as he felt along the delicate ridges in the ink, “because this is truly fascinating.”

“You have to move?” Virgil’s voice sounded from behind Logan, reminding him with a jolt that somebody could now hear his mutterings to himself.

He winced, turning to face the man. “Er, yes- it’s just a safety precaution. I assure you that, despite the rough beginning, this could have been much worse.”

“Yeah, I get that, but do you have to leave? I won’t mess with you again, if that’s what you’re worried about.” The human was quick to reassure him, which just made Logan’s task that much more difficult. “Do you live in the building? Erm, you don’t have to answer that, actually.”

This human was seeming stranger and stranger by the minute. Logan hadn’t been grabbed or prodded at again, nor had he been forced to reveal anything about his species or himself. It wasn’t how he’d imagined that an encounter with a human would go.

“In keeping with certain rules,” Logan began slowly, “I have to move when seen by a human. It’s not really up to me.” It was. He didn’t want to admit that.

“Huh… What if I hadn’t ever seen you?”

“If you hadn’t seen me? We wouldn’t be having this conversation and I would not have to move. I fail to see your point, if you are attempting to make one.”

Virgil gave a hum and removed his arm from the desk, prompting Logan to cringe slightly. He didn’t flinch, though he was confused when Virgil raised his hand to cover his eyes.

“What are you doing?” He asked in confusion.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m not looking.”

Logan was dumbfounded. Then, after a moment, he snorted. “I’m not sure that it works that way.”

Virgil uncovered an eye, smirking. “And why not?”

He didn’t have an answer for that. Virgil covered his eyes once again…

When he uncovered them, Logan was gone, vanished without a trace.


	2. Sick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan gets sick and goes to Virgil for help (and we're ignoring the fact that there's technically a part 2 on my tumblr already because it sucked shhh).

Virgil glanced out the window, wrinkling his nose as he saw the first few snowflakes fell from the sky. The first snow of the season had finally arrived, and that meant the holidays- which meant getting the cold shoulder from his family, just in time for Christmas.

He let out a yawn, and shivered. The cold outside was starting to seep into his apartment...

He reluctantly got up, cringing as his feet hit the cold hardwood, and immediately walked into the kitchen. He absentmindedly scanned the counter, and opened a drawer, withdrawing a lighter.

Before long, the fireplace was lit, and Virgil finally relaxed.

He returned to his armchair, grabbed a blanket, and made himself comfortable. With another, more content yawn, he closed his eyes, and started to drift off...

_“Vir- Virgil...?”_

*

Logan shivered as he trudged through the dark passages of the walls, sniffling quietly. His head felt foggy, and he just couldn’t get _warm._ He’d lit a match in a desperate attempt to get warm, but it had gone out far too quickly.

He coughed, feeling his lungs contract painfully, and gasped for air. He was dizzy, and he felt like he would fall over any-

He stumbled, catching himself on a wooden beam. For a moment, his head spun, but he managed to compose himself. The exit was in sight, and he could feel the heat of the room as he moved, leaning against the wall for support.

When he finally made it out of the entrance, he immediately spotted Virgil, and he slowly walked across the floor, his arms wrapped tightly around himself. 

He croaked quietly, “ _Vir- Virgil..?”_

Immediately, he heard the human start moving, and he couldn’t take it anymore. He collapsed to his hands and knees, utterly exhausted despite not having done anything during the day. _What is wrong with me...?_

“Holy shit, Logan?!” The human blurted out suddenly, his eyes wide. Before Logan could formulate a response somewhere in his addled mind, Virgil slipped out of his armchair and knelt over him.

As he was enveloped by the human’s shadow, he felt tears fill his eyes. He wasn’t scared of Virgil, or in pain- he was just so _tired. “_ I- I need _help...”_

“Yeah, no shit,” Virgil said, and Logan was suddenly surrounded by _warmth._ He closed his eyes and allowed his body to go lax, finally relaxing as he was picked up. He felt the human stand, and he was carried off somewhere- and in his stupor, he didn’t care where he was being taken.

Virgil gently brushed a fingertip against Logan’s forehead, and almost swore. The borrower was too warm for comfort, especially considering how cold the rest of his body was. He withdrew his finger as Logan let out a hacking, raspy cough, his entire body shaken with the force of it.

He brought Logan over to the armchair, sitting down and holding him closely. If he listened, he could just _barely_ hear Logan’s labored breathing, and it made his blood run cold. It was painful to listen to, and his own chest ached in sympathy.

He reached over and retrieved the blanket that he’d been using earlier, carefully draping it across his lap. He carefully wrapped the borrower in the blanket, his movements precise despite his anxiety. Logan was safe, he was alive, and he was still _sick._

Virgil bit his lip, and examined Logan’s face. He was eerily pale, and the bags under his eyes were far more pronounced than usual. His glasses were askew, and even his hair seemed messier than usual. 

“Okay... Fuck,” Virgil said quietly, gently brushing a few stray hairs out of Logan’s face. Logan didn’t stir, and the human abruptly realized that he had fallen asleep.

He relaxed, and held Logan for a while longer, listening to the borrower’s ragged breathing... finally, he fell asleep, holding the small bundle closely.

*

Virgil woke up a few hours later, feeling cold once again. He frowned, and glanced over to the fireplace, realizing that he hadn’t turned it up enough. He let out a soft sigh, and looked down at the blanket bundle worriedly.

Logan’s face was still pale, and he was surprisingly still. He couldn’t hear the sound of ragged breathing anymore, which was nice...

Except for the fact that he couldn’t see the tiny rise and fall of Logan’s chest.

Virgil’s stomach dropped, and he reached down, immediately removing the blanket from over the borrower. Logan remained deadly still, and the human gently nudged his shoulder, trying to rouse him- but the borrower’s skin was _cold._ He moved Logan more, his eyes wide, but he didn’t snap awake- he was limp, _lifeless-_

_“_ No, no- _Logan!”_ Virgil said louder, his heart in his throat. He shook the borrower’s shoulder, the usual carefulness suddenly absent from his movements. “ _Shit,_ no, no, no- **wake up**!”

Just as Virgil had given up, Logan let out a raspy, hacking cough, suddenly shooting up into a sitting position. He wheezed, shivering, and the human could have cried with relief.

As Logan shivered, Virgil gathered the borrower into his palms with care, letting out a soft, relieved sigh. His heart was still racing from the scare, but he forced his hands to stay still. “Holy shit... This isn’t gonna go away with rest, so let’s get you some antibiotics or something.”

The borrower didn’t protest, and Virgil rose to his feet, relief palpable on his face. He carried Logan into the bathroom, and started looking through the medicine cabinet, eyes narrowed intently- “There it is...”

He grabbed the bottle of antibiotics, his eyes scanning over the label a few times. After a moment of hesitation, he gently put Logan down, and said quietly, “Okay, just- we’ll figure this out... Fuck, man, you have bad timing.”

Virgil finally decided to just take one pill with him, and he brought it and Logan out to the kitchen. He grabbed a cup of water and a knife, scraping off a bit of the pill and grinding it to a fine powder. He put that aside, looking around for a moment before he finally grabbed a spoon.

He poured the powder and some water onto the spoon and carefully put it down, before going back to the bathroom. He opened the medicine cabinet again, an idea occurring to him- there!

He grabbed an eyedropper, relief coursing through him as he realized that it was the perfect size. He just needed something that Logan would be able to drink from, and he had a feeling that the spoon wouldn’t work. Finally, he returned to the kitchen, washed the tool out throroughly, and gathered some of the water and antibiotic mixture into the eyedropper.

With that, he scooped Logan up again, and carefully maneuvered the borrower to sit up again. He said lowly, “Stay still, now, this won’t take long... Come on-”

He carefully opened Logan’s mouth with his thumb, wincing as the borrower tiredly protested the movement, and held the eyedropper up to his mouth. With that, he carefully squeezed the plastic end, allowing the liquid within to dribble into Logan’s mouth- and miraculously, he didn’t choke.

When it was all finally gone, Virgil let out a soft, shocked laugh, and washed the eyedropper out again, finally filling it with some water. “Alright, let’s get that taste out of your mouth, and then I’ll leave you alone... Holy shit, I can’t believe that worked.”

Before long, Logan had drank the water, though he’d coughed near the end, and Virgil relaxed. He put the eyedropper down, checked the time, and made a mental note to come back in a few hours for another round of antibiotics.

In the meantime, he could only pray that Logan would eventually wake up.

*

When Logan finally woke up, his head was _pounding,_ and his limbs felt like they were filled with lead. He tried to open his eyes, but the task seemed nigh impossible- all he could do was let out a quiet groan, sending a wave of pain through his sore throat.

Suddenly, he felt movement, and something cool touched his burning forehead. He heard and felt a deep voice, sending vibrations through his entire body. It felt nice... “ _Logan? Hey, can you hear me_?”

The borrower’s nose wrinkled, and he tried to tell the voice to just leave him alone- he was tired, and sore, and he just wanted to feel better. Instead of saying any of that, though, he let out a deep, hacking cough, and went limp.

“ _Shit... Okay, antibiotic time, come on._ ”

Logan felt like he was floating through the air, and if he had been in a more aware mental state, he would have realized that he was being carried somewhere else. As it was, he only shivered, and grabbed onto the nearest warm thing, feeling both hot and cold at the same time.

He was left like that for a while, but finally, something poked at his mouth, feeling cold. He groaned, and tried to turn his head, but he was held in place. The voice spoke up again, saying soothingly, “ _Come on, you need to drink this... You’ll feel better, if you do._ ”

After a few more moments of refusing the strange object, he heard a sigh, and something warm was pressed to his chin, forcing his mouth open. He gasped, struggling to get away from it, but he couldn’t. The cold object- it was some kind of plastic, he realized- was forced into his mouth.

Logan finally opened his eyes, dazed, and looked around. He didn’t know where his glasses were, but he realized that he was being held by a human. He couldn’t make out their features, but he felt fear grip his chest in an icy grip. He tried to scream around the object in his mouth, but he could only manage a muffled shout-

The thing in his mouth suddenly let out a stream of liquid, tasting _foul_. It was the consistency of water, but there was something else in it, something almost metallic in taste. He looked up at the human pleadingly, but he was given a gentle, “ _It’s okay, it’s medicine- I know it’s gross, but you need to drink it. Come on, Logan...”_

The borrower gagged, but he finally swallowed, tears in his eyes. More of the disgusting liquid poured into his mouth, but he was forced to swallow it- it felt like an eternity before the object was finally removed from his mouth, and put to the side.

“ _Okay... Hey, can you hear me? Shit- Logan??_ ” The voice started to sound worried, and the borrower flinched, wrinkling his nose in distaste. He closed his eyes again, recoiling, only for something warm to poke at his cheek. “ _Nope, you’re not going back to sleep. Come on, I need you to get up. Just- say something.”_

Say something? Logan curled up slightly, trying to get away from the voice- no, the human? Who was he with? He finally managed to open his mouth, slurring quietly, “F’ck off...”

The voice let out an undignified snort, and Logan was totally enveloped in warmth again. As he relaxed, the human rumbled, “ _Alright, alright— you’re never gonna live that down, you know...”_

Logan couldn’t muster up the energy to respond, and finally allowed himself to succumb to sleep.

*

After three days of care, Logan was finally feeling better, and he was lucid enough to hold a conversation.

The borrower was nursing a thimble of tea, sitting on the arm of Virgil’s chair. He took in a shaky breath, his lungs still sore, and said gratefully, “I really cannot thank you enough for- for helping me, Virgil... 

“It’s not a problem, man,” Virgil said, shrugging it off. He took a sip of his own tea, relaxing as he leaned back in his chair. “I mean, we’re basically roommates, right?”

“Not really, no,” Logan said, the side of his mouth quirking into a slight smile. “Point taken, though.”

Virgil chuckled quietly, shaking his head. 

There was a long, comfortable silence.

And then, Virgil wrinkled his nose, putting his tea aside- and coughed loudly into the crook of his elbow.

For a beat, there was a tense silence, and Virgil gave Logan an accusatory look. “You...”

“Oh, look at the time, I should get going-”

“ _Dammit_ , Logan!”


	3. Having Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan goes to talk to Virgil. They have dinner and end up getting along better than Logan had expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not too edited, 3.9k words. Enjoy!

As the snow piled up outside, Logan busied himself with insulating his home in the walls, readying himself further for the chills of winter. As things were, the building's heater kept the walls fairly warm, but he didn't want to depend too heavily on outside sources.

With that in mind, Logan had collected discarded newspapers from Virgil, and was working on pasting the material on the wooden walls of his small home. He'd discovered a discarded bottle of liquid glue under Virgil's desk, strangely enough, and he'd managed to drag it back to his literal hole-in-the-wall.

After a few hours of work, the wall he was working on was entirely covered. Logan quirked a small smile, looking over the wall, but found that it was... boring. 

Yes, the added color to the dull room was, admittedly, very nice, but it was still just black and white... Boring, repetitive, and the words really weren’t very interesting.

Then, Logan had an idea.

He quickly cleaned up the small work station he'd set up, screwing the glue bottle's cap back on, and left the room. He scooped up his borrowing bag and hook on the way, shouldering the bag with a practiced ease. 

A few minutes later, he ducked out of the wall entrance he’d carved, shivering despite wearing a few layers. As he stepped into the bedroom, the cold was suddenly gone, as Virgil tended to keep the apartment near-sweltering in the winter. Logan considered leaving one of his jackets in the walls, lest he become too warm.

Despite being on good terms with the human, he still warily glanced around the room, his breath catching in his chest as he realized that Virgil was sitting at the desk. Even from the floor, Logan could tell that he was clearly working on something.

The borrower let out a soft sigh, but grabbed his grappling hook, fashioned from some discarded string and a fishhook. He aimed, his eyes narrowing, and carefully threw it-

_ clink _

Logan grinned victoriously as the hook caught on the wood, and Virgil immediately turned his head to look down at him, blinking as if he'd been startled. "Oh, jeez- you really gotta give a guy some warning, pipsqueak."

"I apologize for scaring you-"

"I wasn't  _ scared- _ “

"-but I actually wanted to discuss something with you," Logan finished, pretending that the punk hadn't said anything. He felt some satisfaction from scaring a being that was the height of a building, in comparison to him. "May I come up?"

"I was actually about to offer you a ride," Virgil said, rolling his eyes. He finally turned back to his work, shaking his head, and said nonchalantly, "Sure, though, come on up. I was just working on some new designs for a client."

Logan nodded, immediately starting to scale up the side of the desk. Despite Virgil's rough exterior, he had subtle ways to show that he cared- he kept a hand close to Logan's hook, just in case it were to slip, he almost always stayed still as Logan climbed, and he tended to look away from the borrower when they weren't talking, either for Logan's own comfort or just because he was awkward.

Finally, the borrower clambered up onto the messy desk and immediately started looking around, his eyes widening infinitesimally. Virgil's drawings, mostly of animals and scenes from nature, were some of his favorite things to look at, and they were the reason he'd come out of the walls today.

"So, what'd you want to talk about?" Virgil's deep voice abruptly pulled him from his stupor, though it was significantly quieter than usual, for the borrower's sake.

"Um... this might sound kind of odd, but I was wondering if you have any drawings that you don't want," Logan admitted slowly, his cheeks flushing a soft shade of pink. He avoided Virgil's eyes, focusing more on the paper below his feet. Was it a weird request? 

"Oh, yeah, there's a few- you can have 'em, if you want," Virgil said, sounding confused. Logan looked back up, his lips open slightly in surprise, but he quickly schooled the expression. "What do you want them for, though?"

"I, um..." Logan stumbled over his words, searching for an explanation. The real reason was stupid- what borrower cared about decoration? "I'm insulating my home, but the material that I'm using isn't terribly nice to look at. I wanted to put something nicer up over it... My apologies, it- it was a foolish request-"

"Dude, I already said you can have it," Virgil teased, rolling his eyes. A smirk tugged at the side of his mouth, and he gave the borrower an amused look. "It's not a crime to want your place to look nice, and I don't mind if you take some of my sketches. Most of them were going to be trashed, anyways, so at least they'll be going to good use."

The tension in Logan's shoulders lessened slightly, and he shot Virgil a grateful smile. "I- right, thank you, Virgil... Are there any specific ones that you don't want, or..?"

The tattoo artist snorted and leaned back in his chair, reaching down to a drawer. He slid it open, finally grabbing an entire stack of abandoned sketches. "Yeah, take your pick of these. Some of them are in pencil, so they're messier than others, and there might be some watercolor in there, I think. It's all non-toxic, so you don't worry about, like, fumes and stuff."

"I hadn't really thought of that, but that's a good point. Thank you, Virgil!" Logan said excitedly, adjusting his glasses. He stepped back as Virgil put the stack of paper down in front of him, eagerly looking over the sketches.

The borrower's eyes widened as he looked across the topmost page, and he clambered up onto the stack of paper, walking across it with a satisfied smile. He really enjoyed looking over Virgil’s sketches, and thankfully, the human wasn’t shy about sharing them.

As Logan looked through the art for his new wallpaper, Virgil sketched absentmindedly, grabbing a new sheet of paper. Before he realized what he was doing, a face started to form on the blank page, and as he erased a minor imperfection, a thought occurred to him- he'd just drawn Logan.

The artist's cheeks flushed darkly, and he immediately turned the page over, focusing on drawing something else. 

They sat in silence for a while, each occupied with their separate tasks, until finally, Logan had gotten everything that he wanted for wallpaper- a large, detailed sketch of a tree, along with a few stylized fish and even a watercolor landscape. 

The borrower smiled as he looked over the pages, satisfied with his decision to go to Virgil for assistance, and glanced up to the human. “This should be everything that I’ll be needing, thank you, Virgil. These really are wonderful, you’re very talented.”

Virgil snorted, shaking his head as he set aside his pencil. He stretched, feeling his back pop, and sent Logan a smirk. “Thanks, pocket watch, means a lot. So, you got any plans for the holidays? Any  _ business _ to attend to?”

Logan went pink at that, reminded of how they’d met, but finally shook his head. “I’m not really a ‘holiday’ type of person, actually. For now, I need to finish insulating the insides of the walls, but that shouldn’t take long-”

“Aw, come on, how can you not be a holiday person?” Virgil asked, wrinkling his nose. Then, it clicked, and he frowned. “Oh… are tiny people just agnostic or something…? Sorry, shouldn’t assume stuff like that.”

Logan considered that for a moment, but finally just settled on shrugging. “Um, I suppose you could say that. We don’t really celebrate holidays, though we’re certainly  _ aware  _ of them. Humans tend to get messier around this season, so there’s plenty of opportunities for borro- er,  _ acquiring,  _ new things.”

If Virgil noticed his slip-up, he didn’t say anything about it, and Logan was grateful for that. “Oh… uh, well, I usually celebrate Christmas and New Years, at least, but not so much anymore. Can’t really celebrate properly, since I live alone and stuff. Er,  _ lived _ alone.”

“Right, right…” Logan said, nodding. A thought occurred to him, though, and he asked curiously, “What about your family? I thought that human families get together to celebrate…”

Virgil visibly winced at that, but the look quickly vanished as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “We don’t really talk anymore… I was kind of kicked out of the family, it was a whole thing. Don’t worry about it.”

The borrower’s eyes widened, and he inwardly berated himself for asking such a personal question. “Um, pardon me, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories… I’m sorry. I don’t really see my family very much either, but that’s mostly just due to distance.”

“Yeah, can’t imagine that’s very easy to deal with,” Virgil said, huffing out a quiet snort. “I mean, the airfare  _ alone  _ must be a real hassle.”

“Indeed, it is a serious problem,” Logan said gravely, his small smile betraying the serious face. He only vaguely knew what airfare  _ was _ , but he knew what an airplane was, so he extrapolated. “You know, most airlines won’t even  _ consider  _ providing accommodations for mouse-sized people- it’s absurd!”

Virgil let out a quiet laugh, the tension from earlier bleeding away into a quiet, easy conversation. He checked the time on his watch, finally humming to himself and saying, “Shit, we’ve been sitting here for a while… Want to stick around for dinner? I promise it’ll be better than airline food.”

“That sounds very nice, though I’m holding you to that promise,” Logan said, chuckling softly. He felt something warm in his stomach, but tried to ignore the strange feeling. He was probably just hungry- which probably also explained why he practically jumped at the chance to have dinner with Virgil. “Um, I can meet you in the kitchen.”

“You sure? I can give you a ride. If you want, I mean,” Virgil said, shrugging. Logan noted that the human was trying strangely hard to look nonchalant about the whole ordeal.

Logan frowned, glancing over to where his hook lay, still embedded in the wood of the desk. He hesitated. “I suppose it  _ would _ be faster… You- you won’t grab, right? Or anything like that…?”

“Nope, nothing like that,” Virgil said immediately, shaking his head. He hesitated, too, but finally extended his hand, resting it flat on the desk with the palm facing up. “Just a quick lift to the kitchen, don’t worry.”

Logan looked down cautiously at the hand before him, but remembered how well he’d been treated when he was sick. He hadn’t been squeezed or hurt- though he recalled being scared at times- and, overall, Virgil’s hands weren’t something that he needed to fear.

So, with that in mind, he scooped up his hook, hastily coiling up the string, and stepped into the middle of Virgil’s palm. His knuckles turned white as he tightly gripped the hook.

Far above him, Virgil spoke, his low voice breaking the silence. “Might wanna sit or something, just to be safe. For balance, I mean.”

Logan winced at that, immediately dropping down into a crouch as Virgil’s hand started moving. “Ri- right… thank you, Virgil.”

The human hummed, his other hand coming up to cup around the edges of his palm, as if it was a railing of some sort. With that, he started walking to the kitchen, keeping his pace steady for the borrower in his palm.

Logan’s eyes widened as Virgil held him closer, and he considered that, if he scooted back, he’d be able to lean his back against Virgil’s chest. It was a strange thing to consider, but the borrower was tempted to try it, if only to see what it would feel like. Virgil’s  _ hands  _ were already warm, and he imagined that the man’s chest would be, too.

As he mused to himself, Virgil finally reached the kitchen, and the hand was lowered to the kitchen counter. Above him, the human’s voice rumbled, “Thank you for choosing AirVirgil- please collect your luggage, tiny grappling hooks, and other personal belongings.”

Logan snorted and rose to his feet, carefully walking off of the man’s palm. He held his bag closer to himself as he touched down on the countertop, and looked up at Virgil with a humorous smile. “Thank you for the ride, Captain- the accommodations were wonderful.”

“Be sure to leave a good review.” Virgil smirked as he retracted his hand, walking over to the fridge. He opened it and looked through the contents for a few moments, grimacing as he said, “Uh… I’ll be honest, I need to get groceries. I mean, I’ve been surviving off of pizza rolls and coffee for, like, almost a week.”

“What are pizza rolls?” Logan asked, looking confused. He tucked his hook into his bag as he walked along the countertop, moving closer to where Virgil was. 

“Oh, right… Uh, they’re made of the same stuff as pizza- tomato sauce, pepperoni, cheese, bread- but in… mini-calzone form, I guess?” Even Virgil didn’t seem satisfied with his own explanation, but he finally just shrugged and said, “It tastes good, and it probably won’t be too messy for you. I’ll just make those.”

Logan let out a quiet hum of confusion, but accepted it. He still didn’t know what it was, of course, but he was nothing if not patient. “I see… Well, in any case, thank you for inviting me to dinner- I’m only sorry that I cannot return the favor.”

“I mean, it’s not like you’re going to eat  _ that  _ much,” Virgil said, opening the freezer. He grabbed a bag and closed the door, looking over the directions on the back absentmindedly. “Besides, you’re pretty good for conversation, so I’d say that I’m getting a good deal, here.”

“A good deal, hm?” Logan mused to himself, glancing up to Logan. “Alright- how much would you say that you value our conversations at?”

Virgil made a face as he put the pizza rolls onto the plate, arranging them in a pattern, as always. “Like, in terms of money?”

“Yes, in terms of money,” Logan nodded, a smile tugging at his lips. “How much?”

The human hummed, putting the plate into the microwave, and pressed a few buttons. As the microwave started, the quiet thrum of the device fading into background noise, he said, “I mean, I can’t really put a price on them…”

That gave Logan pause. “Why not?”

“I dunno, it would be like... “ Virgil seemed to be at a loss for words. “It kinda makes it seem like I’d be cool with selling that, you know? You don’t put a price on relationships.”

There was a beat of silence, and Logan felt that warm feeling again. He blushed. “On- on  _ relationships _ ..?” 

Virgil blinked, pulled out of his thoughts, and stiffened. He shook his head vehemently, looking taken aback as his eyes widened. “Uh, no, not like- sorry, I didn’t mean that, I just- like just relationships between friends!” 

“Yes, like- like friendships,” Logan supplied, his cheeks flushing darkly. He cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses, and nodded to himself. “I- yes, I’m glad that we are… on the same page, yes. Very much so.”

Virgil’s shoulders relaxed, his own face slightly red, and he nodded, too. “I, uh, yeah, I’m glad, too… So, uh, how’s that insulating going?”

Logan sighed in relief at the change in topic, and immediately said, “It’s going well, actually. The newspaper layers have enough space between them that they’re keeping the heat in nicely- I just need to finish all of the walls, and maybe add something to the floors. It  _ will  _ get warm in the summer, but it’s certainly preferable to freezing now.”

“Yeah… Plus, I mean, if you want to cool down, you can always come out here,” Virgil said, giving Logan a shrug. “Shit, that must really suck, being stuck in the walls when it gets hot.”

“Oh, it’s not so bad,”Logan said, shaking his head. “If it’s insulated well, and the entrances to the walls are even just slightly open, there’s plenty of air flow. Personally, I’d rather be warm, than be cold.”

“Really? Huh, you don’t strike me as that kind of guy,” Virgil said, raising a brow. Just as Logan was wondering what that even  _ meant,  _ the microwave beeped loudly. Logan flinched at the noise, his hands flying up to his ears, and Virgil gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry, just a sec...”

As Virgil opened the microwave, Logan slowly lowered his hands, his ears still painfully ringing. “It’s louder when you’re out here, that’s good to know.”

Virgil snorted quietly, grabbing a paper towel to use as a napkin. He brought the plate over to the kitchen table, almost moving to take a seat before he paused. “Oh, right- you want a ride?”

“That would be nice, I suppose,” Logan said, nodding. As Virgil lowered his hand to him, he took in a deep breath, eventually stepping on with less hesitation than before. “So… how is work going?”

“Oh, work’s fine, I guess,” Virgil said, shrugging. He carried Logan over to the table, carefully holding his hand flat. “I’m getting a raise for the new year, which is pretty cool, but aside from that… I dunno, work is pretty uneventful. It’s nothing like what  _ you  _ do.”

“I barely get by, I would hardly call that impressive,” Logan said, rolling his eyes. He stepped off of the man’s palm and stepped closer to the plate, the aroma of fresh food hitting him like a truck. “Wow…”

“Here, lemme just…” Virgil moved a single pizza roll onto a napkin, carefully tearing it open. Steam immediately burst out, and the human swore. “Ow,  _ fuck-  _ might want to wait, it’s pretty hot.”

Logan nodded, but he wasn’t entirely focused on Virgil. He stepped closer, sitting down right in front of the food, and just looked at it. His mouth watered and he leaned forward, saying absentmindedly, “So, when will we know that it’s safe to eat?”

“Uh, you can probably just feel it, but be careful not to burn yourself,” Virgil warned, biting the corner off of one of his pizza rolls. He blew into the roll, trying to cool it down, and timidly took a bite. “Kinda hot, still.”

The borrower frowned, instead opting to rifle through his borrowing bag. He withdrew a shaped pencil sharpener blade, fashioned into a knife, and moved closer. He carefully started cutting a piece of the crust off, dipping it into the red sauce before he took a bite-

“Oh my god.”

Virgil glanced down at Logan, only to stifle a laugh, a wide grin on his lips. The borrower looked shell-shocked, and the tattoo artist felt a slight tug at his heartstrings. “You don’t really get to try much food, huh?”

Logan didn’t respond, immediately stuffing the piece of crust into his mouth. He shot a smile up at Virgil, his cheeks puffed out slightly, and the human snorted.

“If you choke, I’m not doing the heimlich on you,” Virgil said, rolling his eyes as he ate his own food. It was a joke, but frankly, he didn’t want to actually have to do it and risk hurting Logan.

The borrower in question made a muffled response, finally swallowing the food in his mouth. With that, he grabbed his knife again and cut off more, his eyes wide. “I- this is… probably the strangest thing I have ever eaten.”

“Yeah, but you like it, right?” Virgil asked, and he couldn’t help but smirk. “And try to eat slower, man, it’s not going anywhere.”

“If I am to choke to death while eating this, then it would have been worth it,” Logan said bluntly, taking another, much smaller, bite of his food. “Not literally, of course, but you get it.”

“Yeah, I do…” Virgil said, trailing off. He was lost in thought as they ate, a comfortable silence filling the room. Then, he broke it. “Would- uh, would you want to do this more often? It’s just that, you know, eating alone kind of sucks, and… yeah.”

Logan blinked, putting his knife down, and genuinely thought about it. He wasn’t supposed to be doing this. He wasn’t supposed to be back in the company of a  _ human,  _ and the fact that he’d left the walls to voluntarily see Virgil again was… bad. He’d forgotten about the rules entirely, hadn’t he?

But, then again, he  _ liked  _ Virgil. He liked how careful he was, and how easy it was to talk to him. Frankly, the rules never allowed for a circumstance in which a human was  _ nice,  _ so…

“I… yes, I think that I’d like to, but just every once in a while,” Logan decided, a small frown on his face. He didn’t think he was doing the right thing, but what could be wrong about this? “We’re- er, I’m not supposed to really…  _ be  _ here.”

“Oh… uh, yeah, right,” Virgil said, looking strangely… disappointed? “I mean, yeah, it wouldn’t have to be a regular thing, but it’s whatever. I don’t really care.”

Logan tried to smile, but it fell quickly. He returned to his food, carefully cutting off another piece, and said quietly, “I’m- I’m just not supposed to- to be here. That’s one of the rules…”

“The rules?” Virgil asked, wrinkling his nose. “What are the rules?”

Logan almost swore, because he’d said  _ another  _ thing that he wasn’t supposed to. He hesitated, nervously looking down at the table. “I’m- I’m not supposed to tell you about those, either… I’m sorry, Virgil, it’s just…”

“Hey, it’s not a big deal, you’ve got stuff going on,” Virgil said, shaking his head. “I’m not mad, and yeah, I’m kind of confused about the whole ‘rules’ thing, but I’m not about to interrogate you over it.”

Though Virgil’s reassurance was nice to hear, it still made him feel slightly guilty. “Thank you, Virgil… Thank you for dinner, as well, it was wonderful.”

“If you think pizza rolls are good, wait ‘til you try  _ actual _ food,” Virgil said, chuckling. “I’ll probably go get groceries and stuff tomorrow, so maybe we can have dinner again? I know you don’t want to do it that often, but pizza rolls don’t really count as a good meal, you know?”

“Oh, um…” Logan trailed off, considering it, and suddenly made a choice. “You know what? Those rules, they’re not really… applicable, anymore. I’d love to have dinner tomorrow, thank you. Is there anything I can do in return…?”

The smile that Virgil gave him nearly took Logan’s breath away. “Nah, it’s cool, just let me show you actual food- gives me a good reason to actually clean up and everything, too.”

Logan smiled, feeling the guilt start to vanish. If being around Virgil was wrong, if he was  _ truly _ breaking the rules, then perhaps the rules were made to be broken. Just having that thought, a simple, rebellious thought, sent chills down the borrower’s spine.

The rest of the evening went by smoothly, with casual conversation and more jokes about airlines (some of which, ironically enough, went right over Logan’s head). 

When Logan finally returned to his little hole in the wall, the drawings rolled up under his arm, there was a smile on his face. That smile didn’t fade until he went to sleep that night.

  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Little Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan and Virgil talk, and a new challenger approaches. We'll see more from him soon.

“Virgil, may I ask you something?”

Virgil quirked a brow, glancing down to Logan curiously. The borrower was perched on top of a pad of blue sticky notes, watching him draw in what had been a comfortable silence. “Uh, sure. What’s up?”

Logan seemed to hesitate, drawing his knees up closer to his chest. “You said that you don’t see your family very often anymore, and… I don’t mean to intrude, but what did you mean by that?”

There was a short pause, and before the borrower could backtrack, Virgil put down his pen. He sighed softly, leaning back in his chair, and said, “Yeah, we don’t really get along. It’s kind of complicated…”

“I have time, if you want to discuss it,” Logan said quietly, offering Virgil a smile. “If not, that is understandable, and I won’t push for details.”

“Nah, it’s not, like… I mean, it’s hard to explain, fundamentally,” Virgil said, frowning. “Uh… so, when I was, like, 17, I had the _brilliant_ idea to come out to my parents.”

“...come out?” The borrower asked slowly, looking confused.

“Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of…” Virgil said, wincing. “Okay, so… Fuck, this is gonna sound bad- you guys have gender, right? Like, male and female stuff?”

“Yes, we do- though, it might be a bit different than the human definitions,” Logan said, looking curious. “Go on, please.”

“Right, uh… so, when I was born, I was a girl. When I was 17, I came out- as in, I told my parents that I’m transgender,” Virgil explained, ready to get into an entire explanation of gender and sex- but he didn’t get a chance to.

“Oh, so you changed your name and everything? That’s what my sister did,” Logan informed Virgil, nodding knowingly. “That was about a month before I left, but she was much happier when everyone began calling her by her chosen name.”

There was a deafening silence, and Virgil looked down at Logan with genuine shock on his face. He stumbled over his words for a moment before asking clumsily, “Tiny people can be trans?! Wait, wait- what did your _parents_ say??”

Logan shrugged. “They were happy for her, we had a ceremony and everything. I mean, logistically, it was convenient, too. Mom still had some of her old clothes in storage, but she didn’t have any daughters to pass them down to, until Lauren told everyone.”

The tattoo artist was just surprised at how matter-of-fact Logan was about the whole thing. “Is that a common thing for you guys, or…?”

“I wouldn’t say that it’s common, but I’ve heard of it happening a few times,” Logan said, raising a brow. “I mean, what else would you do? Lauren is, at the end of the day, a member of our family. If we weren’t there for her, for that, then… it wouldn’t be much of a family.”

That struck a chord with Virgil. _Wouldn’t be much of a family_ … “Yeah… yeah, that’s a good point. Uh, anyways, I came out, and my parents freaked out. I ended up living with a friend of mine for a while, and one thing led to another- now I live here, and my family lives pretty far away, so…”

“Oh, I see…” Logan said quietly, a small frown on his face. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought up old memories-”

“Nah, it’s cool- it’s not a big deal, anyways,” Virgil said, shaking his head. “It’s just kind of shitty, around this time of year.”

“Oh, right, with the… Chris-mas?” Logan said slowly, looking to Virgil for correction. He wasn’t sure who Chris _was_ , but if there was an entire _day_ in human culture for him, then he was probably an important figure. 

“Yeah…” Virgil said quietly, frowning. “It’s not a big deal, though. It’s just a bunch of traditions, they’re kind of dumb, anyways.”

“If they’re important to you, then they aren’t dumb,” Logan objected, wrinkling his nose. “Besides, you have the freedom to create new traditions, don’t you? You don’t have to follow the old ones, especially if they don’t work for you now.”

“New traditions? Like what?” Virgil asked curiously, hoping to get his mind off of the reminder of his family. “Wait, what do you guys do, for _your_ traditions?”

Logan frowned, clearly thinking for a moment before saying slowly, “Well… There’s a lot that we aren’t able to do, with humans around, but… around this time of the year, we usually have food stockpiled for the winter, so we spend more time in the walls. For those of us that can sew, we usually make new clothes as gifts for the family, but if we can’t, then we go out and bor- er, get gifts for everyone.”

“Oh, that’s cool- what kind of gifts?” Virgil asked, a smile tugging at his lips. He couldn’t really help it- imagining Logan sitting in the walls and sewing was pretty cute.

Logan smiled, and the tattoo artist could have sworn that the room became just a bit brighter. “Humans drop all _sorts_ of things around this time of year! And some of them put out bowls of wrapped candy, too, and the aluminum foil is useful, too.”

“Oh... “ Virgil realized, nodding slowly. It was sad to think that Logan’s version of an ideal Christmas gift was, apparently, a Hershey’s kiss, but he kept that to himself. “Is there anything else you guys do?”

“We usually take turns working on the family tapestry,” Logan offered, shrugging. “I’m not the best at weaving, personally, but my part of the tapestry turned out quite well.”

“A family _tapestry?_ ” Virgil asked slowly, giving Logan a strange look. He thought for a second, finally asking slowly, “Like, with your names and stuff…?” _Like in Harry Potter?_

“Oh, no, we don’t use names,” Logan said, shaking his head. “It’s different for every family, but ours had our crest on it, in addition to a detailed background. When I left, it was almost complete, actually...”

Virgil let out a soft noise, processing what he’d been told. It was weird to think that there was such a rich culture among Logan’s… people? Species? He wasn’t quite sure. “Dang… We’re not really that organized, with traditions and stuff. Uh, we usually just exchanged presents on Christmas, but it wasn’t ever anything super important.”

“Traditions are traditions- I wouldn’t necessarily call one more important than the other,” Logan said, smiling. “Besides, I don’t think that the traditions _themselves_ are really the important part. I mean, this season is about being with the people that you love, is it not?”

Virgil’s cheeks flushed a light shade of pink, and he smiled. “Yeah… you’re right. Good point, man.”

Logan returned the smile, and glanced back down to Virgil’s drawing. “Thank you… You know, since we _are_ technically roommates, perhaps we could make that new tradition, ourselves. I mean, I cannot exactly give you a very nice gift, considering, ah…”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s the thought that counts,” Virgil said, a small smile on his face. “And, uh, yeah, that sounds good! Christmas is still a few weeks away, so that’s plenty of time for us to get stuff for a gift exchange.”

“Right…” Logan said softly, nodding. He wasn’t so sure that he’d be able to get Virgil a very nice gift, but he’d try his best… He glanced over to the digital clock on the nightstand, his eyes widening as he read the time. “Oh, um, we’ve been here for a few hours... Maybe we should take a break- er, _you_ should take a break.”

“Pfft- you need a break, too,” Virgil said, smiling as he leaned back and stretched. Something in his back popped, and he relaxed. “I’m sore just sitting in this chair, so I can’t imagine you’re having a great time, down here.”

The borrower smiled, standing up from his position on the pad of sticky notes. It wasn’t the most comfortable place to sit, but he didn’t seem to mind, so long as he got to sit by Virgil. “I wouldn’t mind getting up, I suppose... You haven’t eaten today, have you?”

“I had some lunch, but I could eat,” Virgil admitted, offering Logan a hand. It was nice to see how little hesitation the borrower showed, now, as he walked forward to the offered appendage. “I picked up some of that fancy cheese spread from the store, if you wanna try that.”

“The pigment spread…?” Logan asked, sitting down in the middle of Virgil’s palm. He remembered that the word had been strange, but he wasn’t quite sure what it was.

“ _Pimento_ , but yeah, that’s it,” Virgil said, smiling slightly as he picked up his palm and started walking towards the kitchen. “It’s supposed to be pretty good, Roman likes it.”

“He’s the ‘people person,’ correct?” Logan asked, having to think about it. Virgil had told him a considerable amount about human life, much to his delight, but Logan hadn’t ever been the best with names. 

“Yeah, that’s him- we work together, he’s the guy that’s good about calming down the first-timers,” Virgil explained, smiling. Before long, he walked into the kitchen and carefully set Logan down on the kitchen table. “He talks a lot, anyways.”

“Ah...” Logan hummed, slipping off of the man’s palm. He adjusted the strap of his bag, taking a few steps back as Virgil moved to get their food. “Thank you for the assistance, Virgil.”

“No problem, pocket protector,” Virgil said absentmindedly, walking over to the pantry. He grabbed a box of crackers, putting them near Logan before he moved to get the spread out of the fridge. “So… are your parents just chill for… uh, for your people, or is that common across different…”

“If you’re trying to figure out the correct phrasing, don’t stress about it. We don’t exactly have a solid name for groups of borrowe-” Logan cut himself off, freezing up. He winced, glancing up to Virgil, who had finally noticed the slip-up.

“Let me guess, I’m not supposed to know?” Virgil quipped, a small smile on his face. He wasn’t offended as he shut the fridge, opening the new container of cheese spread. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it, I get that you have to be secretive and stuff… You ready to try this?”

Logan let out a quiet breath of relief, the side of his lips twitching into a smile. That was one of the best things about Virgil- the fact that he didn’t seem to care about the secrecy. “I- yes, I am… Thank you, Virgil.”

“No problem, Lo,” Virgil said, smiling. He sat down at the table, opening the container of cheese. He looked down at the light orange spread, raising a brow. “Huh… looks pretty good, I guess. I mean, it’s cheese, so it’s kinda hard to screw up.”

Logan sat down, relaxing as he watched Virgil prepare their food. He couldn’t help but smile as he sat back, and he let out a satisfied sigh. It was nice, being… well, _waited on,_ and by a human, no less! It made him feel important- certainly more important than he actually was…

“ _Borrowers_ ,” Logan suddenly blurted out, his cheeks coloring a light pink. “That- that’s what we call ourselves… The name comes from the concept of ‘borrowing,’ in that, when we live in a household, we take small objects that won’t be missed, in order to survive. We trade that, in a way, for services- like returning missing things to humans, and keeping vermin away…”

Virgil’s eyes widened, and Logan watched with bated breath as the man struggled to find the right words. “You... you didn’t have to tell me that.”

“I wanted to. You’ve done so much for me, it’s just… It’s common decency, I think,” Logan said, ducking his head down. He studied his shoes, feeling something akin to embarrassment. “You have been an excellent host, truly, and I- I just want to make that clear.”

“Borrowers… ” Virgil repeated quietly, blinking slowly. Finally, he smiled, dipping a cracker into the cheese dip and putting it down on a napkin in front of Logan. “That’s a cute name. I mean, it kind of makes sense, I guess, but in a weird way. Like, you don’t return any of the stuff you ‘borrow,’ do you?”

The borrower snorted softly, and said, “If someone were to ask if they could borrow a sheet of paper from you, you generally wouldn’t expect them to return that same piece of paper to you once they used it. It’s the same concept- nobody would expect the objects _themselves_ back, but they’d appreciate that same kindness to be shown towards them, in the future. If it won’t be missed, it is up for grabs, one could say.”

“Huh… fair enough, I guess,” Virgil shrugged, grabbing a cracker for himself. He dipped it into the cheese and held it up, hovering a hand under it absentmindedly. “Well, ready to try this?”

“Is this really something that I need to prepare myself for?” Logan asked humorously, raising a brow. Nonetheless, he scooted closer to the cracker, breaking off a piece and dipping it into the mess of cheese. He held it to his mouth, smiling, and nodded.

It _was_ something that he needed to prepare for, actually- because now, Logan had a new favorite food.

*

**Jack Smellington** :

hey, that dip stuff you gave me is pretty good

**Princey Prince** :

It is PIMENTO CHEESE, you rapscallion, get it right

**Jack Smellington** :

ok fine the pimento cheese dip is pretty good

**Princey Prince** :

You make it incredibly hard to be your friend, you know

**Jack Smellington** :

thats the goal yeah

**Princey Prince** :

>:(

**Jack Smellington** :

;)

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting it to AO3 sooner than to my tumblr, mostly because I can just paste the rich text into the Add Chapter interface here, as opposed to having to go through every individual word and put it in italics or in bold on the horrible interface of tumblr.


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